Interesting little story in the Newark Star-Ledger today. According to a report by Mike Garafolo, the New York Giants had negotiated with the Detroit Lions in order to move up and take Missouri wide receiver Jeremy Maclin.

REPORT: GIANTS WANTED MACLIN

Bob Brookover

Posted:
Wednesday, April 29, 2009, 5:44 PM

Interesting little story in the Newark Star-Ledger today. According to a report by Mike Garafolo, the New York Giants had negotiated with the Detroit Lions in order to move up and take Missouri wide receiver Jeremy Maclin.

The trade, of course, never happened because the Lions had the 20th pick and the Eagles made a deal with the Cleveland Browns to move from 21st to 19th and they took Maclin. Garafolo said his source was "somewhat briefed on the negotiations" between the Giants and Lions. We have to assume that it was someone from the Giants because the writer later says the person requested anonymity because the Giants don't publicly disclose what goes on in their draft room.

Detroit ended up keeping the 20th overall pick and took tight end Brandon Pettigrew and the Giants drafted North Carolina wide receiver with the 29th pick.

If this has a familiar ring to it, then you probably remember the 2003 draft and realize that moving up for a player definitely doesn't guarantee success. The Eagles made a deal with the San Diego Chargers in 2003 to move up from 30th overall to the 15th pick, then took defensive end Jerome McDougle.

A couple days later, former Giants general manager Ernie Acorsi confirmed that his team had a deal in place with Kansas City for the 16th overall pick and planned to take McDougle. Sometimes, the best deals are the ones that don't get done, although the Giants selected McDougle's Miami teammate William Joseph that year and the defensive tackle also ended up being a bust.

The P.S. to the story: Kansas City traded the 16th pick to Pittsburgh, which took safety Troy Polamalu and the Chiefs moved down to 27th overeall and got running back Larry Johnson.